TECH VENTURES TO BE RECOGNISED AT DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY INNOVATION AWARD
By Ednah Kiarie
Advances in technology has improved internet
and digital innovations in Africa resulting in
new accessibility innovations and solutions by
African start-ups and tech giants. On 9th of
October, 2020, nonprofit inABLE.org will present
the inaugural digital Accessibility Innovation
Awards to recognize the best inclusive African
innovations, at the closing ceremony of the
Virtual Inclusive Africa Conference 2020, taking
place on 8th and 9th October, from 9 – 11:30 am
East Africa Time.
“inABLE has created the Digital Accessibility
Innovation Award to celebrate the significance
of accessible innovation solutions that improve
the lives of everyone”, explains the inABLE
Executive Director Irene Mbari-Kirika. “This new
awards program shines the light on the
potential for accessible technologies that help
everyone without excluding people with
disabilities.”
Even as Africa experiences a digital revolution
with a growth of over 400 tech hubs in cities,
including Nairobi, Lagos and Cape Town. it is
important—now more than ever— for Africa to
digitally include the over 80 million Africans
with some form of disability. GSMA predicts
that the global rate of mobile Internet will be
61% of the population in 2025, versus the 43%
that it was in 2017. This means a jump from 3.3
billion users in 2017, to 5.5 billion in 2025. We
need to view digital inclusion as a vital human
right.
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, people
with disabilities have been disproportionally
digital disconnected, at a time when there was
a necessitated elevation in reliance on digital
infrastructure and connectivity. For example,
according to World Economic Forum, there has
been a 70% growth of global internet usage, a
doubling of mobile application use, and triple
for voice calls.
“This escalated pandemic-driven digital
migration provides new opportunities to bridge
the long existing gaps in technology that have
for a long-time excluded people with
disabilities,” encourages Mbari-Kirika.
InABLE a world where every individual has
all-inclusive access to the same educational,
technological, and employment opportunities.
inABLE.org is a nonprofit organization based in
Nairobi, Kenya and Washington, DC with a
mission to empower the blind and visually
impaired through computer assistive
technology.
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